Ann Marie Anastasi was sentenced Tuesday to serve 60 years in prison for the murder of her husband and his live-in lover at their Lothian home in October 2015.

Anne Arundel County police were called to the couple's rented home on West Bay Front Road on the morning of Oct. 5, after Anastasi finally called 911 several hours after the killings.

They found Anthony Anastasi dead from a gunshot wound to the head in the couple's bedroom. Jacqueline Riggs was found in her basement bedroom, stabbed to death.

Ann Anastasi said her husband's death was a suicide, prosecutors said. She acted surprised during police interviews when told of Riggs' bloody murder.

Then she tried to paint the death of her husband and Riggs as a murder-suicide.

Ballistic evidence, however, showed the gun found next to Anthony Anastasi's body wasn't the one used to kill him. It also found gun residue on Ann Anastasi's body and clothes.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Wachs sentenced Anastasi to life in prison on two counts of first-degree murder. He suspended all but 40 years in the murder of Anthony Anastasi and suspended all but 60 in the death of Riggs. She was also sentenced to five years on a firearms charge. All sentences will be served concurrently.

Anastasi entered an Alford plea in December, maintaining her innocence but admitting the prosecution had enough evidence to convict her.

"Ann Anastasi destroyed multiple lives by coldly planning these murders and manipulating children into executing her vicious plan," said Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Wes Adams. "Were it not for Mrs. Anastasi at the helm of this scheme, the victims would still be alive today."

Prosecutors and police said Anastasi coaxed her 14-year-old daughter, Sara, and her boyfriend, Gabriel Struss, into the plot. Text messages and phone calls among the three discussed the plan.

Struss shot Anthony Anastasi in the head as he slept and stabbed Riggs to death. He pleaded guilty in June and is serving a 60-year-sentence.

Assistant State's Attorney Jason Knight described a "heinous and vicious" crime scene, particularly in the death of Riggs. She suffered 42 knife wounds, 20 stab wounds and 22 cuts.

He also described Ann Anastasi as the mastermind of the plot. She manipulated her daughter and Struss, prosecutors said, into the murder of her husband. She handed the gun used in her husband's murder to Struss when he entered the home on the night of Oct. 4.

Anne Arundel County police said both Ann and Anthony Anastasi were in a sexual relationship with Riggs until the 25-year-old moved into their home in summer 2015.

When Riggs moved in, tensions in the apparently abusive household grew worse. Anthony Anastasi and Riggs continued their sexual relationship. Anthony Anastasi would leave the bedroom shared with his wife and go to Riggs' basement bedroom to have sex, defense attorneys said. Ann Anastasi was no longer involved, and tensions mounted in the home, police said.

Assistant public defender Michelle Vignola described Ann Anastasi's life as one of constant abuse, beatings and threats against her and her children, laying out a picture of what drove her client to do what she did.

Vignola described stories of Ann Anastasi's husband locking her out of the house in a snowstorm, and another where he sent her to Florida and gathered the children to vote on whether she should be allowed to return.

Anthony Anastasi would force his wife to call relatives to ask for money, then spend it on himself on a widescreen television and once a Harley Davidson motorcycle, Vignola said.

He threatened his wife and others in the family, saying he had connections to a notorious Michigan biker gang that had people who would kill them, the public defender said.

In conclusion Vignola asked that the sentence be reduced on the murder charge in Anthony Anastasi's death — life with all but 40 years suspended instead of 60 years — because Ann Anastasi had already served 20 years in her horrific marriage.

Wachs told Ann Anastasi he believed that she had indeed been abused, "which might mitigate the death" of her husband.

But, he noted, the death of her husband was premeditated, planned and coordinated, not a momentary reaction to an abusive action. He said he saw no remorse exhibited in post-arrest interviews. And Wachs said he could find no explanation for the heinous death of Riggs.

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The City of Annapolis Police and Fire Departments held an active shooter drill June 22, 2018 at St. Mary's High School.

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The City of Annapolis Police and Fire Departments held an active shooter drill June 22, 2018 at St. Mary's High School.

The City of Annapolis Police and Fire Departments held an active shooter drill June 22, 2018 at St. Mary's High School.

The annual Maryland Fire-Rescue Services Memorial program in Annapolis, moved from the memorial to a nearby garage due to the rain.

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